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The IceCats got their start when original New York Islanders owner Roy Boe purchased the Springfield Indians AHL franchise and moved it to Worcester in the summer of 1994. The team began play in the Fall of 1994 with a collection of free-agent players but as yet with no National Hockey League team affiliation. Late in the 1994–95 season, Boe and head coach/General Manager Jim Roberts negotiated a deal with the St. Louis Blues. From that point on the IceCats would be the Blues' premier minor league team. The Peoria Rivermen of the East Coast Hockey League, in turn, became the IceCats' minor league affiliate in 1998, having been with St. Louis before the 1994 Worcester deal. During the 2000–01 season, Boe sold the IceCats to the St. Louis Blues. The team celebrated its tenth season in the AHL in Fall 2003.

On November 9, 2004 the St. Louis Blues announced the sale of the IceCats to the owners of their ECHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen. The new owners have moved the franchise to Peoria, IL, for the 2005–06 season.